1In the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, (2Ki 25:25; Ps 41:9; Jer 40:6; Jer 40:8; Jer 40:10)2Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land. (2Sa 13:28; Jer 40:5)3Ishmael also struck down all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there. (Jer 41:1)4On the day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew of it,5eighty men arrived from Shechem and Shiloh and Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn, and their bodies gashed, bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord. (De 14:1; Jos 17:7; Jos 18:1; 1Ki 16:24; 2Ki 25:9; Isa 15:2; Jer 23:13; Jer 36:24; Jer 48:37)6And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah came out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he came. As he met them, he said to them, “Come in to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam.” (Jer 40:6; Jer 40:8; Jer 40:10)7When they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men with him slaughtered them and cast them into a cistern.8But there were ten men among them who said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death, for we have stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he refrained and did not put them to death with their companions. (Jud 6:11)9Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the bodies of the men whom he had struck down along with[1] Gedaliah was the large cistern that King Asa had made for defense against Baasha king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. (1Ki 15:22; 2Ch 16:6)10Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah, the king’s daughters and all the people who were left at Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and set out to cross over to the Ammonites. (Jer 38:23; Jer 40:7; Jer 40:14)11But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, (Jer 40:8; Jer 40:13)12they took all their men and went to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah. They came upon him at the great pool that is in Gibeon. (Jos 9:3; Jos 9:17; 2Sa 2:13)13And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him, they rejoiced. (Jer 40:13)14So all the people whom Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. (Jer 41:10; Jer 41:16)15But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites. (Jer 40:14)16Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces with him took from Mizpah all the rest of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom Johanan brought back from Gibeon. (Jos 9:3; Jos 9:17; Jer 40:7; Jer 41:13)17And they went and stayed at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt (Ge 35:19; 2Sa 19:37; Mt 2:1; Mt 2:14)18because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. (Jer 40:5; Jer 41:2)